On Anniversary of London Summit, FP2020 Highlights Progress in Ambitious Effort to Expand Access to Family Planning Information, Services and Supplies

A year after the historic London Summit on Family Planning, Family Planning 2020 (FP2020) points to key successes in the collective goal of giving 120 million more women and girls access to lifesaving contraceptives by 2020. More than 20 governments have already made commitments to advancing FP2020 goals and others are expected to follow suit later this year. FP2020 has established a cooperative, global framework for coordinating, monitoring, and supporting these efforts.

National ownership of family planning programs is at the epicenter of this progress. Zambia committed to increasing its contraceptive prevalence rate from 33 to 58 percent, and reducing its unmet need for contraception from 22 to 19 percent. In response, the country launched a costed, eight-year plan to scale up family planning across the country. In an effort to make services more available, the government now enables trained community health assistants and volunteer health distributors to deliver injectable contraceptives, and it is deploying mobile health services in remote areas. Zambia is also working closely with religious and tribal leaders to dispel myths that discourage women from using contraception.

New distribution and service delivery models provide effective solutions to geographic challenges in accessing contraceptives. In Senegal, where 84 percent of women reported they had experienced a stock-out of their preferred method, an “informed push” model of distribution has strengthened the contraceptive supply chain and helped the country eliminate stock-outs. In Nigeria, the “cluster” model increases geographic coverage of service through a public-private partnership strategy that creates a cluster of five clinics within a radius of approximately 12 miles. The “cluster” model holds great promise for reaching under-served populations.

Strategic partnerships have resulted in price reduction agreements and product innovation, increasing access to a range of contraceptive methods. Long-acting, reversible contraceptive implants – Jadelle and Implanon – will be made available in the world’s poorest countries at a more than 50 percent price reduction. The Jadelle agreement alone will help prevent more than 28 million unintended pregnancies and avert approximately 280,000 infant and 30,000 maternal deaths. It is also expected to save about $250 million in global health costs. Product innovation in the form of Sayana Press, a new way of delivering Depo-Provera, packaged in the Uniject injection system, will increase the ease, safety, and reach of non-clinical service delivery through community-based distribution. Sayana Press is expected to reach three million women in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Injectable contraceptives are among the world’s most popular methods for preventing pregnancy, offering women safe and effective protection, convenience, and privacy.

“The path of partnership is open and we are well on our way to fulfilling our collective promise to provide 120 million more women and girls access to lifesaving contraceptive information, services and supplies by 2020,” said Valerie DeFillipo, Director, FP2020.  “Yet our work has just begun. Family planning isn’t a stand-alone intervention and much more needs to be done to ensure all women and girls have everything they want and need to determine their own futures and lead free, healthy lives.”

In the coming weeks, three of the established FP2020 Working Groups – Performance Monitoring & Accountability, Country Engagement and Rights & Empowerment will meet for the first time. They will finalize work plans and formalize outreach strategies to provide technical guidance to deliver on the collective goal of reaching 120 million more women with lifesaving contraceptives by 2020. Performance monitoring and evaluation efforts are established through the UN Secretary-General’s Every Woman Every Child accountability processes, in order to track progress on the implementation of FP2020 financial, policy, and programming commitments. An annual report of collective, community progress to advance these goals will be launched in November, at the 2013 International Conference on Family Planning in Ethiopia.

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About Family Planning 2020 (FP2020)

Family Planning 2020 (FP2020) is a global partnership that supports the right of women and girls to decide, freely, and for themselves, whether, when, and how many children they want to have. FP2020 works with governments, civil society, multi-lateral organizations, donors, the private sector, and the research and development community to enable 120 million more women and girls to use contraceptives by 2020. FP2020 is an outcome of the 2012 London Summit on Family Planning where more than 20 governments made commitments to address the policy, financing, delivery and socio-cultural barriers to women accessing contraceptive information, services and supplies. Donors also pledged an additional US$2.6 billion in funding.

Led by an 18-member Reference Group, guided technically by Working Groups, operated daily by a Task Team and hosted by the United Nations Foundation, FP2020 is based on the principle that all women, no matter where they live, should have access to lifesaving contraceptives. FP2020 is in support of the UN Secretary-General’s global effort for women and children’s health, Every Woman Every Child. For more information visit, www.familyplanning2020.org